Navigating The Arctic's Icy Waters

Over the last few decades the Polar Regions have been experiencing an accelerated decline in ice cover due to global warming. Whilst the opening of arctic trade routes, most notably the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage, may bear bountiful fruit for the shipping industry, the sector is also at the centre of much controversy over the use of these routes due to the huge potential and actual environmental impact that the movement of freight through these waters brings.

The shipping industry has often been blamed as a leading contributor to the increased carbon emissions, however the resultant melting of the Arctic ice actually poses huge opportunity for the industry.

The prospect of cutting voyage time is luring many owners to navigating their ships and cargo through the arctic region, due to the economic opportunity it presents. Therefore, this week Fathom takes a look at the exploration of the new shipping routes across the Arctic and the issues and benefits that ship owners face when it comes to thinking about navigating through the extreme conditions presented in the region to seek aforementioned economic opportunities.

We also study the future regulations that The International Maritime Organization (IMO) are currently exploring in order to protect the fragile environment and to mitigate the risks associated with moving freight across the arctic trade routes.

Black carbon (BC), also known as soot, is strongly light-absorbing carbonaceous material emitted as solid particulate matter (PM) and is formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels, and biomass. BC is the most effective PM, by mass, at absorbing solar energy and is one of the major causes of global warming. When BC is deposited on snow and high risk merchant account, it causes more sunlight and heat energy to be absorbed, resulting in surface warming. The potential rise in shipping traffic will result in further deposition of BC and therefore the risk of further melting is greatly increased.

 The shipping industry is a contributor of marine ecosystem degradation and therefore any increase in marine traffic within Polar Regions has the potential to cause major impacts to the ecosystems. These impacts could include oil spills, invasive species, marine mammal strikes, air, water and noise pollution and accelerated arctic warming from BC deposition.

The commercial shipping industry is thought to contribute about 1-2% of global BC emissions.Ships emit more PM and BC per unit of fuel consumed than other fossil fuel combustion sources due to the quality of fuel used.

Therefore, with the exposure of the Polar Regions, namely the Arctic, to increased levels of marine freight movement, the regulation and legislation around aforementioned impacts is under close scrutiny and development.

This increase in ice melt as a consequence of global warming and BC deposition has resulted in and will continue to result in the opening and expansion of passages that were once blocked by ice. The shipping community is fast jumping on the possibility of saving huge amounts of money on fuel and time by utilising these new routes.

 2013 seems set to be a record year for maritime activity on the 'Northern Sea Route'. There has been a tenfold increase in the number of vessels using the route during recent years. In 2012, 46 vessels sailed the whole route, compared to 34 in 2011 and only four in 2010.

As the Lloyd's Register Global Shipping Trends 2030 report points out, in future summer months when the ice has melted to a far more significant extent than today, it will be possible to cut journey times between Europe and Asia by up to a third by using Arctic routes.

The Northern Sea Route along the arctic coast of Russia reduces journeys between East Asia and Western Europe by 21,000 km, in other words, 10-15 days. The opening up of the Northwest Passage, which is currently only navigable one year in seven and crosses Canada's Arctic Ocean, would make a journey between East Asia and Western Europe about 13,600 km long as opposed to 24,000 km when using the Panama Canal. The Arctic Bridge linking Russia to Canada, and the Transpolar Sea Route linking the Arctic to the Strait of Bering and the Atlantic Ocean of Murmansk, would also be potentially usable.

Whilst shortening the voyage in theory is wonderful news for an operator looking to limit fuel costs and emissions; service providers and original equipment manufacturers need to understand how their products will operate under Arctic conditions, or even whether they need to start designing and testing new solutions in advance – though the IMO does not yet have an official set of guidelines that describes the requirements of offshore merchant account.

 Inadequate navigational aids, poor or non-existent charting, extreme cold and darkness, and lack of infrastructure are all concerns. The level of isolation means that should a vessel get into trouble, it will be difficult to secure a timely emergency response. Bunkering facilities, port reception facilities for ship's waste, pilotage in shallow passages, possible ice-breaking assistance all require further development.
This lack of experience in extreme and rapidly changing weather conditions could result in disaster and with polar regions being a hot topic, eyes will be watching the shipping community if vessels start utilising these channels.

The IMO is working with Member States and other interested stakeholder (such as NGOs) to develop a mandatory Polar Code to control the expected increase in shipping traffic in the polar waters. It is also intended to function alongside existing IMO conventions, such as SOLAS and MARPOL. The Polar Code will have to control traffic to mitigate against potential accidents. This will be achieved by drawing up traffic routeing and separation schemes, areas to be avoided, speed restrictions, and mandatory ship location reporting. The increased volume of traffic will however improve search and rescue capabilities in the Arctic waters.

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